Curriculum for MED130: The Practice of Happiness

The Practice of Happiness is a 1-unit credit course that provides students with tools and strategies to develop a sustainable approach to their happiness and well-being. Students will learn breathwork- and meditation-based processes to decrease stress and increase happiness and peace. In addition, students will also engage in community-building group discussions, interactive processes, and study happiness-based research to discover for themselves what happiness is, and how it can be sustained as a personal practice.

Week 1: Introduction. An introduction to meditation and breathing techniques. We discuss the link between stress, health, and contemplative practices, followed by introductory breathwork and meditation practices.

Week 2: Stress, health, and you. Interactive presentation on the surprising biology of stress (for the non-scientist!). Guided group process on stress and its impact on you. Discussion followed by breathwork and facilitated guided relaxation process.Screening: Stress: A Silent Killer.

Week 3: Sustainable happiness. Group discussion on strategies for creating sustainable happiness. Group process based on the importance of compassion and service in long-term happiness. Group breathwork and meditation practice.Screening: Martin Seligman: The new era of positive psychologyGuest lecturer: Dr. Tom Schnaubelt, Executive Director, Haas Center for Public service.

Week 5: Happiness and Productivity. An interactive presentation on how peace of mind and happiness can inform our ideas of success and boost productivity.Guest lecturer: TBA

Week 6: Developing a practice. Lecture on positive psychology-based strategies to build positive habits into one’s life, with an emphasis on sustaining a meditation practice. Interactive group discussion and processes. Group breathwork and meditation practice.Guest lecturer: Denise Marcus, a meditation and well-being instructor at Kaiser Permanent, and a long-term meditator, who has maintained a personal practice for over 40 years, will discuss the nuances of building and maintaining a long-term meditative practice.

Week 7: Connection and vulnerability. Discussion on the role of interpersonal relationships in maintaining happiness as well as building better communication. Guided communication exercise. Group breathwork and meditation practice. Screening: Brene Brown: The power of vulnerability [TED talk]

Week 8: In-depth breathwork and meditation practice, and review.

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